Below are silage moisture levels for various counties in Wisconsin.
These data were collected from the same spots in the field and harvested over time.
Projected dates for silage harvest will change as environmental conditions influence
maturity and the rate of drydown

Table 1. Corn silage drydown in Wisconsin counties during 1997.

County

Corn hybrid
maturity rating

Sample
date

Silage
moisture (%) on sample date
(Min-Ave-Max)

Rate of
drydown between sample dates
(% per day)

Projected
date for 65% silage moisture *

Chippewa

Flint Thompson
715-726-7950

Shorter-season
(< 95 d RM)

9/4
9/8
9/11
9/15
9/18

72-72-73
69-71-72
63-65-66
63-66-68
61-63-65

---
0.1
2.0
-0.3
1.0

9/18
9/20
Now
9/17
Now

Full-season
(> 95 d RM)

9/4
9/8
9/11
9/15
9/18

72-73-73
69-71-72
67-67-67
69-70-72
67-68-69

---
0.5
1.3
-0.8
0.7

9/20
9/20
9/15
9/25
9/24

Fond du
Lac

Mike Rankin
414-929-3171

Shorter-season
(< 100 d RM)

9/9

69-71-78

---

9/21

Full-season
(> 100 d RM)

9/9

72-75-78

---

9/29

Jefferson

Matt Hanson
920-674-7295

Shorter-season
(< 105 d RM)

8/28
9/2
9/9
9/16
9/23
9/30
10/7

83-84-86
77-81-84
73-76-77
67-69-72
64-66-69
61-65-68
61-65-69

---
0.6
0.7
1.0
0.4
0.1
0.0

10/5
10/4
9/30
9/24
9/25
9/30
Now

Full-season
(> 105 d RM)

8/28
9/2
9/9
9/16
9/23
9/30

76
75-79-85
63-73-79
61-68-72
70
64

---
---
0.9
0.7
---
---

9/19
9/30
9/25
9/22
---
---

Manitowoc

Scott Hendrickson
414-683-5062

Shorter-season
(< 95 d RM)

9/4
9/8
9/11
9/15
9/18

74-76-77
74-75-76
69-72-74
64-70-74
63-67-68

---
0.3
1.0
0.5
1.0

9/26
9/28
9/25
9/25
9/22

Full-season
(> 95 d RM)

9/4
9/8
9/11
9/15
9/18

72-74-76
72
69-70-70
68-70-72
66-68-69

---
---
0.7
0.0
0.7

9/22
9/22
9/21
9/25
9/24

Sheboygan,
Ozaukee, Washington

Mike Ballweg
920-467-5740

Shorter-season
(< 95 d RM)
NIR
-------
Microwave

9/8
9/15
9/22
9/29
-------
9/22
9/29

79-80-82
77-80-82
71-72-74
62-65-67
-------
64-67-68
57-60-61

---
0.0
1.1
1.0
-------
---
1.0

10/8
10/15
10/6
9/29
-------
9/26
---

Full-season
(> 95 d RM)
NIR
-------
Microwave

9/8
9/15
9/22
9/29
-------
9/22
9/29

80-82-88
79-83-87
74-77-82
64-73-78
-------
68-70-75
63-67-71

---
0.0
0.9
0.6
-------
---
0.4

10/12
10/21
10/16
10/15
-------
10/2
10/3

Waukesha

Matt Hanson
920-674-7295

Shorter-season
(< 100 d RM)

8/28
9/2
9/9
9/16
9/23
9/30
10/7

84-86-87
80-83-84
78-80-82
74-76-78
67-70-73
65-67-72
51-57-65

---
0.6
0.4
0.6
0.9
0.4
1.4

10/9
10/8
10/9
10/8
10/3
10/3
---

Full-season
(> 100 d RM)

8/28
9/2
9/9
9/16
9/23
9/30
10/7

83
77
76-78-80
70-74-78
72-73-73
71-72-73
55-60-64

---
---
0.0
0.6
0.1
0.1
1.7

10/3
9/26
10/5
10/4
10/9
10/13
Now

*Projection uses average drydown rate of 0.5% per day. Rate is greatly
affected by environmental conditions.